Cantwell Presses NASA Nominee to Stand Up for Science, Support Artemis Moon Missions
WA’s 1,500 aerospace companies deliver $4.6B in economic output
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, pressed Jared Isaacman – President Trump’s nominee to serve as NASA Administrator -- on his commitment to protect critical NASA programs from DOGE cuts and support the Artemis mission.
“The more [the budget] gets slashed and burned by different approaches, by DOGE, the more harmful it can become to people undermining the support for the mission overall … So do you believe that we should have a reduction in workforce or the science budget?” asked Sen. Cantwell.
Isaacman was non-committal in his response: “Senator, I read what's on NASA Watch and in the news, like everybody else. If I'm confirmed, I am eager to understand all of the considerations, the discussions being made about a reorganization.”
Last month, it was reported that the President’s FY2026 budget could slash NASA’s science funding by up to 50%. Cuts in funding could severely threaten critical science and research programs across the administration.
Sen. Cantwell then asked Isaacman about his commitment to supporting the Artemis missions. Over 42 companies in Washington state and 2,000 jobs are directly tied to supporting the Artemis program: “Do you support the continued Artemis mission with the Space Launch System?”
“Senator, I believe that is currently the plan… I think the real question is, again, why has it taken so long? Why does it cost so much money?” replied Isaacman.
“But in the issue of, are we going to commit to this? I think [Artemis] and the [lunar] lander redundancy … people see that as a we're going to the moon and we're going to get this done. Not this discussion of, we're going to skip these things, shortchange this, and then we're going to focus on Mars in a different route. That's what I'm trying to get from you,” responded Sen. Cantwell.
Sen. Cantwell is a champion for American leadership in space exploration. In March, Sen. Cantwell joined her colleagues in introducing the bipartisan NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025, which sets clear near-term priorities for NASA programs, advances American leadership in deep space exploration, prevents a gap in low Earth orbit leadership and capability, and upholds scientific ingenuity.
In July 2023, Sen. Cantwell brought NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, regional aerospace industry leaders, STEM education leaders, and students together for a Washington State Space Summit, held at Blue Origin HQ in Kent. The summit included a trade show with 20 space companies, industry groups, and educators from across the State of Washington followed by a panel discussion.
In 2022, Sen. Cantwell celebrated the successful launch of NASA’s Artemis I mission. Washington state contributes significantly to the Artemis program with 42 companies providing components either for Artemis I or for later Artemis missions, including General Dynamics in Bothell, Aerojet Rocketdyne in Redmond, Blue Origin in Kent, and Toray Composites Material in Tacoma. A full list of Washington companies supporting the Artemis program is available HERE.
In November 2019, Sen. Cantwell co-sponsored the bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2020, which aimed to recognize the Artemis missions in U.S. law for the first time. To provide certainty and stability for the program, language authorizing the Artemis missions and requiring NASA to establish stringent oversight requirements was eventually incorporated into the CHIPS & Science Act, which Cantwell spearheaded through Congress. The CHIPS & Science Act was signed into law on August 9, 2022.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s Q&A today are available HERE, audio HERE, and a full transcript is HERE.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s opening remarks are available HERE, audio HERE, and a full transcript is HERE.
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